Author: Kajoyan Gevork

THE SIZE OF FOREIGN TRADE TURNOVER WAS $474.7 MILLION INCREASED BY 23% IN MAY

YEREVAN, June 20. /ARKA/. The size of foreign turnover was $474.7
million or 177.2 billion drams increased by 23% in May 2011 in Armenia,
Armenian National Statistic Service informs.

This indicator increased by 8.7% in May 2011 compared with April 2011.

The size of export was $114.3 million (42.8 billion drams) increased by
39.7% in May 2011 compared with May 2010 and import – $360.4 million
(134.4 billion drams) increased by 18.5%. In the result, negative
balance of foreign trade turnover was $246.1 million (91.6 billion
drams) in May 2011.

Export increase by 3.1% and import increase by 6.5% was recorded in
May compared with April.

Average rate of dram was 374.25 drams per 1 US dollar.

REHABILITATION WORKS UNDERWAY IN THREE SETTLEMENTS

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

Special brigades worked in Surami, Khashuri and Chumateleti whole
night to clean up roads and canals, which were blocked up by the
mudslide that stuck the settlements during last few days’ non-stop
rains. Brigades were sent to the area from Borjomi and Kharagauli. The
firefighters were pumping water from the basements and ground floors of
the houses flooded by the disaster. In Surami and Khashuri, the swollen
river damaged mostly the houses that stand along the river bank.

The situation is graver in the Chumateleti, where the river changed
its bed and it is still flowing in the yards of the houses. The power
supply has been already restored to these settlements, only those
districts remain disconnected, where the power generators were swept
away by the flood. The gas supply will be restored to the settlements
in a few days, as experts say.

NKR PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS RESTORATION OF THE WAR-AFFECTED SETTLEMENTS

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

On 19 June President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan visited
the Hadrout region of the republic.

In the village of Banadzor the President met with the representatives
of the community and discussed issues the village faced.

In the village of Arakel the President partook at the ceremony of
opening a new kindergarten building. President Sahakyan expressed
gratitude to philanthropists Ararat and Narine Hovsepyans for realizing
different programs in their native village including the construction
of the kindergarten underlining psychological and socio-economic
significance of such undertakings. The NKR President highlighted
restoration of the war-affected settlements especially noting the
necessity of developing school and pre-school network.

In the village of Arevshat the NKR President met heads of communities
located in the central and southern parts of the Hadrout region. The
heads of communities presented socio-economic situation in the
villages, issues they face and development programs.

President Sahakyan underlined that the region had great potential
for development and the state stipulated to realize a number of
large-scale programs in the region, especially in its southern
sections and particularly in the spheres of agriculture and processing
industry. According to the President it would have a positive impact
on the development of both the Hadrout region and the economy of the
whole country.

Bako Sahakyan considered important the role of local authorities
in successful realization of these programs and within this context
called for their organized and active participation.

The President visited also Tovmasar sub-district in the southern
section of the Kashatagh region and inspected a number of programs
being realized there.

Premier Ara Haroutyunyan and other officials accompanied the President
during the visits.

HENRI REYNAUD: “ARMENIAN-FRENCH CULTURAL RELATIONS HAVE STRONG BASES”

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

The Armenian-French relations have strong bases: the joint events
promote the strengthening as well, French Ambassador to Armenia Henri
Reynaud said today.

He says during the 8th Golden Apricot International Film Festival,
Armenia will host a prominent French cinema figure. “I will not
announce the name yet for the sake of the surprise,” Henri Reynaud
said. According to the ambassador, the French side is expected to
partake September in the Reanimania Film Festival.

“Now we work on an interesting cultural program, which will be
dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence,” Henri
Reynaud said. He added that another program on human fundamental
freedoms will be implemented in the current year.

ANALYST: IN KAZAN PARTIES TO ONCE AGAIN REITERATE READINESS TO CONTINUE PEACE TALKS

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

In Kazan the parties will once again reiterate their readiness to
continue the peace talks, political analyst Alexander Margarov said
at a news conference today, adding that the second possible scenario
is the adoption of another document that will possess certain grounds
for continuing the process. “That is to say besides the Deauville
statement and other documents there will be readiness of the parties
to follow a number of principles”, the political analyst said.

According to expert Andreas Ghukasyan, the meeting in Kazan will
determine whether the activity of the Minsk group will continue or
not. “If Azerbaijani president does not sign what currently is on the
table of negotiations, the format as such will change. The OSCE cannot
wait Armenia and Azerbaijan to regulate their issues. We agree with
the principles on the table of negotiations while Azerbaijan has not
oriented yet. So, assessing all the sides, this country must orient
and come to common conclusion”, the expert said.

ISSUES ON PREPARATION OF PAN-ARMENIAN GAMES DISCUSSED

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

Chairman of the World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games Ishkhan
Zakaryan had today a working consultation with the participation of
representatives of governors’ offices and municipalities.

Deputy sport and youth affairs minister Artur Poghosyan also partook
in the event. During the consultation issues on preparation of 5th
pan-Armenian games were discussed. Ishkhan Zakaryan said 10 sport types
are presented at the games scheduled for August 13-21. He said the
prior goal of the event is the reinforcement of the Armenian-Diaspora
ties.

Moj News Agency, Iran
June 18, 2011 Saturday

Iran, Armenia to Cooperate in Border Control

The government made the announcement after approving a relevant
Armenian-Iranian draft agreement that stresses “the need to elevate
the level of good-neighborly bilateral relations.”

The agreement was submitted to Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian’s
cabinet for approval by Gagik Khachatrian, head of Armenia’s State
Revenue Committee (SRC). Officials in Yerevan could not say when it is
expected to be signed.

The 6-page document stipulates that the immigration and customs bodies
of the two countries will “provide joint services” at the
Meghri-Nourdouz crossing in order to “facilitate international traffic
of passenger, cargoes and transport vehicles.”

In particular, individuals crossing the Armenian-Iranian border,
including commercial travelers, would have to fill out customs
declarations only in the country of departure. They and their personal
belongings, goods and means of transport would be checked only in the
country of entry.

The two sides would have to inform one another about “suspicious
goods” transported through Armenian or Iranian territory. Each side
would be entitled to promptly receiving from the other information
about the origin of such goods and, if applicable, the legality of
their import from third countries.

The agreement also envisages the “simplification and standardization
of customs documents” as well as the exchange of information between
Armenian and Iranian immigration checkpoints at Meghri-Nourdouz.
Nevertheless, passports will continue to be checked on either side of
the frontier marked by the Arax river.

Armenian and Iranian nationals need visas to travel to each other’s
country. Successive governments in Yerevan have been reluctant to
accept Iranian proposals for a visa-free regime.

Tehran has also been pressing for the signing of an Armenian-Iranian
free trade agreement. The two governments have yet to work out
mutually acceptable terms of such a deal, though.

The plans for joint border control are a further indication of
deepening Armenian-Iranian ties. The two governments are due to launch
this year more multimillion-dollar commercial projects focused on
energy. That includes the planned construction of two large
hydro-electric plants on the Armenian-Iranian frontier.

news.am, Armenia
June 20 2011

Armenian President Sargsyan held phone conversation with Iranian
counterpart Ahmadinejad

June 20, 2011 | 00:17

YEREVAN – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan discussed bilateral issues
with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president’s press
service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Sargsyan and Ahmadinejad discussed regional issues as well as
development of bilateral relations and perspectives of expansion of
cooperation in number of fields.

The phone conversation was held at the initiative of the Iranian side.

IEA invites Russia to join

June 19, 2011 – 17:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The International Energy Agency (IEA), which
represents consumer countries, has invited Russia and other producer
nations to join it, Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said in a
newspaper interview on Sunday.

The move was a desperate attempt to broker a deal between buyers and
sellers over soaring crude prices, AFP reported quoting The Observer
weekly.

“We all really have a common interest. You cannot take oil in
isolation from gas security, energy efficiency and electricity from
renewables,” Tanaka said. “The issues of energy security and climate
change need to be tackled collectively and we think Russia and other
key producers can learn a lot from (the IEA’s) experience.”

The 28-member IEA was created in response to the 1973-4 oil crisis, to
help industrialized countries coordinate a collective response to
disruptions in oil supply.

The Paris-based organization last week expressed disappointment with
the decision by the oil cartel OPEC not to boost output quotas given
persistently high prices, supply shocks and rising seasonal demand.

Russia, an energy superpower, is viewed by the IEA as a “key
non-member” country along with China and India, but Tanaka said it
would be a good thing if Moscow became a full member.

He raised this with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin on
Saturday, the newspaper said, and Sechin had indicated that he might
come to the next ministerial meeting of the IEA in October.

Discussing a timeframe for membership, Tanaka said: “I don’t know when
(it) will happen. It can’t be done in a day, and may take years, but
Russia can benefit from our knowledge.”

He has also had preliminary talks with Saudi Arabia and other Middle
East oil producers about playing a role in the IEA, the paper said.

Azerbaian violates ceasefire 250 times within a week

15:18 – 18.06.11

Over the past week, the Azerbaijani armed forces violated the
ceasefire accord on the Contact Line with Karabkh for more than 250
times.

According to a press release by the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Defense
Army, the frontline subdivisions of the Azerbaijani army released
1,700 gunshots in the south-eastern, eastern and north eastern
direction of the Contact Line.

On June 12 and 14 alone, the enemy opened 800 gunfires.

Respecting their commitments under the ceasefire agreement, the
frontline subdivisions of Nagorno Karabakh armed forces refrained from
retaliatory operations, keeping the situation along the Contact Line
under control.

Tert.am